


The Last 3.5 Minutes of Banana Fish

by Bearflame



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Ash Lynx Lives, Ash Lynx and Okumura Eiji Go to Japan, Ending What Ending, Everything is fine guys, Fix-It, Happy Ending, M/M, Shorter Wong Lives, Skipper lives, So I almost forgot to tag that, yall i genuinely forgot ash survivng wasnt canon for a second
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27648239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bearflame/pseuds/Bearflame
Summary: A speculative work about what may have happened during the last 3 and 1/2 minutes of the Banana Fish anime. It’s a shame that the footage was lost (just like every episode of death note past 25) but at least it gives us room to come up with our own ideas.Everything is fine and denial is just a river in Egypt.
Relationships: Ash Lynx & Shorter Wong, Ash Lynx & Skipper (Banana Fish), Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji, Okumura Eiji & Shorter Wong, Okumura Eiji & Skipper, skipper (banana fish) & Shorter wong
Comments: 5
Kudos: 48





	The Last 3.5 Minutes of Banana Fish

“Eiji wait!”

Eiji, who had been shouldering his luggage and preparing to get on the plane, turns towards Bones’ shout. He sees Bones, Kong, and Alex rushing towards him. The three stop in front of him, trying to catch their breath.

“What are you doing?” Eiji had thought the three were trying to be subtle back at the drop off area, why would they suddenly start running and shouting? And Eiji tries not to think too hard about how they got through security without tickets.

Alex doesn’t respond verbally, instead holding his phone up to Eiji's face. He sees a text message pulled up on-screen. _Skip awake. NYC H+H rm 233_. Eiji reads it three times. Then he drops his suitcase and runs.

Eiji makes it to the hospital room in... well he wasn’t checking the time. It had felt like forever but also was not enough time. There would never be enough time for him to sort out what to say. How do you thank someone who got _shot_ because he helped you? How do you talk to that person afterwards? Not even taking into account that the person in question is a _child!_

Now he stands in front of the closed door of the hospital room. Thankfully Charlie had already been at the hospital for a bit and was able to convince the staff to let him see the boy. Eiji hadn’t thought that through on his way here. It’s probably a good thing that random strangers weren’t being let into a child’s recovery room, even if it would have been inconvenient for Eiji.

He raises a hand to knock, lowers it, and considers walking away when he hears a voice from inside, a very familiar voice.

Eiji throws the door open, without considering the reaction of its occupants. How could he think clearly when he can hear Ash’s voice? And there he is, in front of him, halfway out of the chair next to Skips bedside, hand in his jacket. Eiji would realize later that Ash had been reaching for a gun. Upon seeing one another, the pair freeze. They stare at each other for a moment, neither sure what to do or say.

“EIJI!” The silence is broken by Skip. Eiji looks at the boy and smiles. When Skip puts his arms out Eiji hurries to the side of the bed and wraps him in a hug, as tight as he dares. Skips gunshot wound is long healed, but he still seems fragile after all that time unconscious. 

“It’s so good to see you Skip,” Eiji tries to hide the tremor in his voice, but he knows he failed. He’s just so _small_. Eiji buries his face in the child's hair and clings to him.

“It’s good to see you too! I’m glad you made it, Ash was saying you were going back to Japan! Did you fly back here? _Did they turn the plane around?!_ ” Skip says in that rapid-fire way unique to kids.

“No, nothing that exciting, thankfully I got the news before I got on the plane,” Eiji finally lets go of Skip, even though he wants nothing more than to cling to the boy and never let go.

“You missed your flight?” Ash speaks up from the corner, his voice quiet.

“I can get another flight, I wasn’t about to miss seeing Skipper here,” Eiji reaches out and squeezes Skip’s shoulder. An illogical part of him is convinced that keeping a hand on the boy will keep him safe from any future hurts.

“I’m glad you’re here. And you got here really fast! Ash only got here a few minutes ago!” Skip says. Eiji turns to Ash.

“About that, how did you get here so quickly?”

Ash looks embarrassed, or... guilty?

“Well-”

“MR. LYNX!” a nurse rushes into the room through the door Eiji had left open, “Sir you need to be in bed!”

Eiji’s head snaps toward Ash. His expression darkens.

“Ash. I am going to ask once. Why do you need to be in bed?”

Ash looks everywhere except for at Eiji.

“Ash.”

“So, I might’ve gotten... just a little stabbed?”

“ _STABBED!?_ " Eiji doesn't know what he was expecting, but apparently stabbed wasn't it. "How do you get a little stabbed!? Go with this nurse right now!”

Ash Lynx; prodigy, gang leader, overthrower of an up and coming drug trade, does exactly what the skinny Japanese photographer tells him to.

“I will see you in your room soon,” Eiji says before Ash leaves the room “And we can talk about how exactly this happened.”

Ash nods and leaves, flustered.

Eiji sighs and deposits himself in the chair Ash left behind. He could feel his hair going grey.

“Oooooh,” Skip taunts from the bed “He’s in _troooouble_.”

“Yes Skipper, yes he is.”

\------------------------------------

Ash, Eiji, and Skip walk along a crowded street in Tokyo. Skip is darting to each storefront along the way, fascinated by everything he sees. The kid had never left New York before, so he was getting the full tourist experience now.

The two adults followed behind him at a more sedate pace, they had learned that they couldn’t keep up with the boy and trusted him to stay close. Ash sees Skip linger a bit longer than usual at one of the store windows. When he moves on to the next one, Ash leans over to Eiji.

“Be right back,” he whispers in Eiji’s ear before heading for the shop Skip had left. Eiji rolls his eyes and keeps following the excitable kid.

“You spoil him you know,” He says when Ash rejoins him.

“He deserves it,” Ash tucks something into his jacket pocket as they walk.

“Yeah,” Eiji looks toward Skipper, who has stopped and is petting some woman’s dog, she and the dog seem to be rightfully enchanted by him. “Yeah he does.”

“How much longer till we have to head back to New York again?” Ash says from beside him.

“He starts school on the first Tuesday of September, and I want to have him back at least a week of two before then so he has time to settle in.”

“I don’t think this kid is capable of settling,” Ash says. “But it’s a good plan, I’ll book our tickets tonight.”

“So... what did you get him?” Eiji hooks his arm around Ash’s.

Ash grins and pulls his purchase out of his pocket. It’s a Nori Nori figurine, about as tall as Ash’s palm. “You’re affecting his taste.”

“For the better! Nori Nori is great!” Eiji just resists sticking his tongue out at Ash, it would not help his point. Ash laughs at him anyway.

He adjusts his hold on Ash, bringing them a bit closer in the process.

“How do you think he’ll like the _other_ surprise?” Eiji asks.

“Hopefully he’ll like it. I put Bones and Kong in charge of decorating before we left.”

“Alex is supervising right? So it doesn’t get out of hand?”

“Of course, he’s also been sending updates,” Ash grabs his phone out of his pocket and pulls up the text thread with Alex. He shows Eiji several pictures of the new apartment, _their_ new apartment.

“It’s beautiful Ash...” Eiji hadn’t seen it furnished yet. It had been beautiful when he and Ash had walked through with a realtor, but something about the presence of couches and bookshelves made the whole thing that much more real.

They scroll through a few more pictures until they reach the ones of Skip's new room. It very nearly brings Eiji to tears. There is a desk directly across from the doorway, under a mid-sized window. The wall to the left of it is lined with shelves for books, toys, rocks, or whatever Skipper decides to fill them with. But the star of the show is the enormous chalkboard that takes up most of the wall across from the shelves. It is partially covered by the bed in the corner. Eiji can practically see Skipper standing on the bed, trying to reach the top of the chalkboard. They had talked about making sure this room would be a place for Skipper to make his own, and while the shelves were Eiji's idea, the chalkboard was all Ash, probably ordered custom before they left.

“Those three did a good job. putting everything together,” Ash smiles, “It’s weird though, I’ve bought a few apartments before this but this is the first time I’ve had to pay attention to the _school districts_.”

Eiji snorts and pushes Ash with his shoulder before immediately pulling him close again, kissing him squarely on the lips. Eiji would be sad to leave Japan again, but he had so much to look forward to back home.

\------------------------------------------

“There you two are!” Alex walks up to Bones and Kong with his arms crossed. “What are you waiting around for?”

“The boss is still asleep” Kong points to the door behind the pair with his thumb. It’s ajar, and through it Alex can see a pile of blankets and a mop of blonde hair peeking out the top.

“Oh.” Alex says “Have you...?”

“Yeah we texted Eiji, he says he’s on his way” Bones holds up his phone for Alex to see. 

Alex sees the text where Eiji agrees to come by and wake the boss up, followed by several texts of him being confused and exasperated by the other men’s fear. Even after all this time he has yet to see why the others won’t mess with a sleeping Ash Lynx. Part of that being because they have Eiji to fall back on now, no need to send in anymore sacrificial lambs. The only problem now being that he doesn’t know how long it will take Eiji to arrive.

“Have you tried-” Alex started.

“Course we did,” Kong responds.

“Hm.”

The three continue to hover uselessly. Bones and Kong start messing around on Bones’ phone while Alex tries not to give into temptation and sit down on the floor. He caves almost immediately.

“What’s going on?” Comes a voice from their left. The three hardened criminals definitely don’t jump as little Skipper pipes up. He’s still so small it is easy to miss him.

“Sorry kid. We’ll get out of your house as soon as the boss wakes up,” Bones leans down to be at eye level with Skipper, Alex stays seated on the floor, mostly for the same reason. “We’re just waiting on Eiji.”

“Oh... Skip peeks through the opening at Ash.

Then the worst happens. The child squares his shoulders, and walks into the room. The other three are stunned for a moment too long before they try to stop him. Alex scrambles to stand up and reach the boy, but Bones and Kong try to go through the door simultaneously and end up blocking it. Then when Bones tries to step back to let Kong through he trips over the halfway stood-up Alex and sends both of them tumbling, distracting Kong before he can stop Skip.

They watch in horror as Skip grabs Ash’s shoulder through the blankets and tries to shake him. There is movement in the pile as Ash turns to the boy, then the blankets themselves seem to rise up, engulfing Skip before returning to the bed, the child was gone.

“Oh no..” Alex puts a hand to his mouth.

“He was too young!” Kong cries, just quietly enough to avoid drawing the ire of the beast in the blankets.

“We tried to stop him, why couldn’t we stop him!” Bones wails.

“Um...what is happening?” the distraught gangsters hear a fourth voice.

“Eiji!” ”Eiji you’re here!” ”Eiji quick, he got Skip!” The trio talk over each other, all trying to convey the urgent situation.

“You still need me to wake Ash up right?” Eiji asks.

“YES!” three voices echo.

“Okay...” The innocent Eiji still manages to seem confused and not at all worried. He marches into the room as if it presents no danger at all. When he reaches the edge of the bed he pauses. Then he pulls out his phone, shuffles to the other side, and starts... taking pictures?

From where Alex stands he can’t see what has Eiji’s attention, the blankets are piled too high. Alex lets curiosity get the better of him and creeps into the room as quietly as he can. He hears the other two gasp as he crosses the threshold of the bedroom. 

Alex looks over the edge of the blanket nest and sees... Skip. Ash, still dead asleep, is clinging to the confused boy like a teddy bear. Skip sees Eiji taking pictures and sticks his tongue out at him, unintentionally making himself even more adorable.

“Boys,” Eiji’s serious tone gets the attention of the other three immediately “I’m going to need my good camera for this one.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Seriously though Skip, how'd you get so tall?” Shorter leans over in his chair to ruffle Skip’s hair, the boy, though clearly annoyed, allows it.

“Of course I’m tall now Shorter! You were in the hospital even longer than I was!” 

“Oof, no kidding.” Shorter flexes his now much skinnier arms “Been thinking about getting a gym membership to make up for the lost workout time. I mean I’m still hot but I’m not loving the twink look.”

“Implying that you weren’t a twink before?” Ash grins at his friend over the dinner table.

Shorter stands up in indignation. “Ash Lynx I will throw you!”

“With those toothpick arms? I’d like to see you try!” Ash stands too. Both men are smiling, with a wild look in their eyes. Skip saves his chocolate milk from toppling over as the two “adults” lean on the table and banter.

Honestly, Eiji is just glad they can joke about it now. Shorter’s lost muscle mass was the most visible sign of the time he had spent comatose and at the beginning they had all avoided bringing it up.

Psychologically, there was still work to be done. Him and Eiji’s exposure therapy had been harrowing for both of them, and was still just one of many hurdles for Shorter in the times ahead.

Eiji knew it would be okay though, eventually. He had known for a few months now. He had been driving Shorter back from physical therapy, partly as more exposure but mostly because he wanted to help however he could. Shorter had asked if they could make a pit stop on the way back to his place.

He had had to use a wheelchair to get his friend into the hair salon, but when Shorter got his signature purple mohawk back, Eiji would swear his smile was as bright as it had ever been. Any extra effort was worth it and then some for that smile.

Eiji had lost track of the conversation at the dinner table, at some point Skip had joined the other two and was standing and jumping to make himself heard. Eiji had no context for whatever they were talking about now, but it didn’t matter. Watching them, _his family_ , be so happy made his heart soar.

It was several hours later before they saw Shorter out the door.

“Don’t forget Uncle Shorter! We’re carpooling to therapy on Tuesday!” Skip gave Shorter, and then the other two, his most serious look. 

“If you’re going to pull the uncle card on me then there’s no way I’ll forget. I’ll see you Tuesday Skipper! Ash, Eiji, see you then!” Shorter said. He waved at the other two and closed the door behind him as he left.

It helped that Skipper was so serious about therapy. Not going, and disappointing that little face? It would be the worst crime any of them had committed to date.

“Can I play video games before bed?” Skip started looking at Eiji expectantly. 

“I don’t know Skipper, it’s past your bedtime already,” Eiji responded.

Skip’s face scrunches up in a pout, making him... still adorable, “I can’t believe I got shot for this.”

Ash, standing next to Eiji barks out a laugh. “Damn kid, you’re just gonna use that one forever huh?”

“Yep!” Skip stops pouting and beams at the adults, despite how dark his previous statement had been.

Eiji, known pushover when it comes to this child especially, caves.

“Fine you can stay up and play for one more hour, but that’s it! It is a school night after all.”

“Yay!” Skipper runs to the living room.

“So... are we just never going to be able to say no to him?” Ash leans his shoulder against Eiji’s and smiles in the direction Skip had disappeared to.

“He got shot because of me Ash! What am I supposed to do!?” Eiji graciously pretends he doesn’t see Ash hide a snort behind his hand as the pair head to the living room after Skipper.

The boy had already parked himself on the rug with his switch controllers when they got there, Ash and Eiji choose to sit on the couch because they are boring adults.

Eiji watches him play for a while but doesn’t totally understand what is happening. Something about a lost prince collecting some orbs? The only thing he’s sure of is that the thief boy is one hundred percent in love with the protagonist.

When Ash puts an arm around his shoulders, he leans in, savoring the moment. Ash on his right, he reaches his left hand to the one dangling over his shoulder and squeezes it. The sensation of their rings clinking together gives him butterflies still. Their life together is messy, and complicated, and started out in probably the worst way possible, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world. He knows Ash wouldn’t either.


End file.
